15 minutes

I've got 15 minutes while I wait for Abby's blood sugar to come up....so I thought I'd sit and write. She's 42...yikes! I mixed her insulin tonight, and it obviously was a bit much for her little body. Oh, this rollercoaster. You can do the same thing two days in a row and get totally different results. But we keep on trying. And we will every day.

Halloween....that's the big topic of discussion at our house right now. We don't celebrate Halloween, and we've told Abby that. Everywhere we've gone though, people have innocently asked her what she's going to wear for Halloween. She just looks at them with a blank stare, or she tells them, "We don't celebrate Halloween." She's gotten some crazy looks from people, but I'm so proud that she isn't afraid to tell people how we feel. She doesn't even know what Halloween is other than that we've told her that people dress up and get candy and that almost everybody doesn't mean anything bad by it....but some people do. Anyway, she told me that she was going to be scared to go anywhere on Halloween because Halloween night would be scary. So she's obviously hearing things from somewhere....and the only time she's not with me is at childcare at church. I'm guessing some kids were talking about Halloween in Sunday School. Anyway, she's peppering me with questions. Matt and I have chosen not to do Halloween or any of the fictional guys like Santa or the Tooth Fairy. We tell them that they are fun stories and characters just like Dora or Diego. They can enjoy them, but we will not tell them that these random strangers come into their homes. We just won't do it. So we'll get flack from people I'm sure. We've already gotten some from family.

Anyway, I'm beginning to show. My belly popped out about 2 weeks ago.....early, early I know. I guess it's having 4 kids back to back that's done it. Anyway, I'm actually doing really well. I am nauseated most mornings but nothing like with the girls. Does that mean it's a boy? Old wives' tale! I'm worried I'll be wearing a tent from like March on if this doesn't slow down though. Yikes!

I taught the girls how to play freeze tag and hide and seek today. Isabella doesn't get freeze tag yet at all. She just likes to run and poke people. Abby loved it! She is really into games and winning at this age. It's so cute!We got lots of good exercise while Ali Kate took her morning snooze.

Abby's starting to read now. She can read about 20 words by sight or sound. I'm really super impressed with her. She loves to try new words....it's fun for her. We're not pushing at all. If she wants to work on it, we do. If she doesn't, we don't. She's only 3....so I'm not going to push her.

Isabella is becoming the sweetest thing ever. She is constantly giving "smoochies" and "smoosh hugs." She never kisses though. She asks for a kiss and then gives you her cheek so that you can kiss her. It's adorable. She loves being near me. Today she brought her pillow into the bathroom and laid on it on the floor while I took a shower because she didn't want to leave. So pitiful. She has been saying "I love you tons" all the time. It's so sweet.

Ali Kate is charming as usual. She's doing the pre-crawling steps like getting on all fours and twisting around. I give her about 4 weeks. She's so easy-going....always waiting for the next adventure. She can say mama, dada, bye bye, and baba. She can clap and play peekaboo. She's getting so big...18 month clothes! At 9 months old!

Anyway, I need to go recheck Abby.

Night, night.